Posted on 1/31/2010 at 8:55:58 PM
In light of last months Copenhagen emissions summit, governments around the world have renewed their promises to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Surprisingly, China is leading the cuts with a promise to reduce “emission intensity” (whatever that means) by at least 40% by 2020.
The Eu plans to cut emmisions by just 20%, America just 17%.
Only time will tell if these promises are realistic and if they do anywhere near enough to protect what’s left of our environment. There are all sorts of forecasts, some predicting most the UK will be underwater by 2020, some say its too late, others say we’ll pretty much be unaffected.
Posted on 1/17/2010 at 2:37:33 PM
Authors of a report outlining the requirement for a rethink on the UK’s sea defenses plan. Having looked at the rising sea levels and increased likelyhood of flooding the authors of the report urged the government to act sooner rather than later.
I can’t help but wonder where the money for a country wide reform on flood systems would come from if the UK did take any notice. We (in the UK) are already in more debt than ever before (even the great depression). It’s going to take us 30 years of cuts before we can work off the current debt. I’d hate to admit it but there just isn’t enough money.
Posted on 1/15/2010 at 11:42:31 AM
In the news this week was a small bird called the “Arctic Tern”, that migrates from the north to the south pole every year to breed.
It’s a pretty amazing little thing that weighs under 100 grams.. It spends it’s entire life flying from the north pole, to the south, where it breeds, then flies back again.. Its a journey of about 43,000 miles
Tiny radio trackers were used to track the birds as scientists wanted to know the exact route they took.. (up the spine of Africa if you are interested)
I find it pretty amazing that this little thing can make it half way around the world, where it takes us thousands of pounds of fuel, technology and carbon released into the atmosphere to do the same thing.
Posted on 1/8/2010 at 4:52:04 PM
What would you say if there was a simple way that the whole of the western world can cut emissions by 13%, save huge sums of money, make a large portion of workers happier and vastly improve public services with one simple rule change.
Utah in America has changed it’s working hours to 8-6 o’clock and taken the Thursday off.. the effects of which have been sum-what surprising.. Workers are happier while still putting in the same amount of hours; pollution has reduced as people use their cars less on the extra day; people are more relaxed; productivity shoots up.
Think of it as the opposite of Dolly Parton singing 9 to 5. Sounds great to me.
Posted on 1/6/2010 at 2:10:17 PM
Since it’s been snowing here in the UK for a couple of weeks now I thought a nice snow day post about a Global warming protest that was due to start in Utah.
The poorly attended protest planned a “scream-in” to display their frustration at the failure to come to any sort of an agreement at the Copenhagen climate change talks.
It only took an hour or so for the 6 people that turned up to pack up their bull horn and posters and head off home after conditions deteriorated and the blizzard closed in around them.
I can taste the irony from here.
Posted on 12/28/2009 at 11:00:13 AM
well its coming up to the new year in a few days and I think it could be time to start thinking about making 2010 a ‘green’ year and all about the environment. So what sort of things can I look to do ??
Easy wins are probably going to be continue recycling, looking at green travel options and making sure that the energy consumption within the home is minimal.
But why stop there, why not take this to the office and try and convert the work colleagues. Look around your office and think of what you do and what could change ??
Turn appliances and lights off where possible, this may mean changing the location of work stations for the best use of natural light. Think outside of the box on further things you can possibly do and make 2010 the greenest year yet.
Posted on 12/23/2009 at 9:34:25 AM
Not my own, but it is estimated that the rising climate within the UK could be about to cause havoc on the wildlife that currently popualtes vast areas of the country.
The ever-changing climate is expected to see the unwelome introduction of species such as clawed toads from Africa. This added to the fact that breeds such as salmon, which rely on cool freshwater, will be forced elsewhere could be ultimately devastating for a country which prides itself on the type of nature that exists.
I for one, have sampled nature at first hand, being brought up in the North East and getting to experience the North York Moors would find it hard to take if slowly it was taken away from us.
Posted on 12/18/2009 at 1:00:32 PM
Now having been recently diagnosed with exercise induced asthma, it leads me to think that the quality of air I grew up in may have been contributory.
I was a healthy child, and very active in lots of sports including running and swimming. But I found myself struggling to recover my breath and it was getting worse. So a trip to the doctor was booked and they performed a peak flow test over 2 weeks which determined I had exercise induced asthma and an inhaler was duly prescribed.
Now I find that I can take a dose of the inhaler if Im ever struggling which tended to be in extreme temperature, either very hot or very cold weather.
Maybe its time for the government to do more research into this as an issue and help protect the future youth’s potential health problems.
Posted on 12/16/2009 at 10:00:08 AM
Many schemes have been brought in to try and encourage ‘greener’ transport within the country’s working population. Some cities, it is easier to implement and maybe of more value. For instance, the majority of the working population in London will use a form of public transport since the introduction of the congestion charge, but also due to the fact it is easier to get around.
Other such schemes rolled out are car share schemes or bike 2 work. The latter is one I actually particpated in for over a year. I was quite lucky to have showers to use when i got to work, but also the added bonus of getting extra fitness !!!
Maybe I will start again when its slightly ligther and winter has passed.
Posted on 12/14/2009 at 6:00:50 PM
I was taking the bottles down to the bottle-bank at the supermarket the other day and thought its amazing the amount of recycling we actually do nowadays.
I mean take a look at what we do in our house without much effort :
- Bottle, Cans, Paper, Tins, Cardboard all recycled by the council.
- Vegetable and Organic waste goes in our eco-bins at bottom of garden.
- Leaves and grass join them to make a lovely compost.
I think looking back, I wonder how much general rubbish could really have been put to better use. Maybe the world could have been saving itself a bit sooner.
Are you doing your bit for the environment ??
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